Tank turned 49 this year

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I made it downstairs to my workshop to see my fish. It wasn't easy and it's the first time I got off the walker since the operation but my fish needed me.
I was going to jump down,but I figured it was prudent to use a cane. I had to take extra drugs to get here but I saved some for my fish, who look very good by the way. Nothing at all has been done to the tank in 2 weeks and I have had multiple people who have no idea what a fish is besides dinner feeding them. I made up some frozen food packates and thats what they use. I normally thaw and rinse them but I can't ask people to do to much so I just tell people to toss them in. By doing this, I really should change the water but thats not going to happen. I only did one water change since I moved here 5 months ago which is almost normal for me but not after all this abuse.
My algae scrubber is growing produce and my skimmer looks like a cement mixer but the fish have to live with me, I don't have to live with them, so they will have to conform.

Everything looks great, no dying corals or croaking fish and the spawning fish are still spawning. I am surprised the 2 dragon faced pipefish are still in the front and partying as I have not target fed them yet.

Of course if I ran a sterile, quarantined tank, I would be looking for a new hobby by now as those tanks can't take any abuse. I also have no idea what any parameters are but whatever they are, it's the same as the Long Island Sound where I got the water from. Now that I am thinking about it, I may dose some calcium. I don't remember doing that yet.

 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
They get you up and going around real fast nowadays. You'll be racing up and down those steps in no time.

Getting serious ....

It shows what the condition of the system is when you can leave it alone and let it run itself for a few weeks with no problems. That goes double when you have non-reef people helping you with feeding and so on.

I often leave my tanks alone for a couple of weeks when I go on vacation. I figure I'm lots better doing that than I am having a non-reef person come in and try to that care of them.
 

saintsreturn

Well-Known Member
Love it! Congrats on the walking progress and the tank. I left for a week back on turkey day and am about to leave for another 10 days here shortly. I have a buddy who knows nothing about tanks dropping frozen food in and topping of the RO container. Its a nice feeling not being concerned when i am gone. Like you, i usually find the tank better off than I left it. This is why i started reading so many of your posts from the past and adopting versions for myself. Mostly, i just leave the tank alone.

And just to add another compliment. Thank you. A while back i was losing the algae battle like so many have in our time. With this tank, i havent done anything. I took an algae covered rock out of my old system and placed it in the new system. The algae is almost dead now and has dwindled to turf like substance. You know what i used to treat it? Me either. i just let it be and didnt screw with my tank.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Algae and most hitchhikers will leave on their own unless you "help" it leave.

If I choose to lose the walker for a few minutes and use the cane, I pay for it. That titanium in my leg may have come from a Snowflake titanium mine
In Girly Man town because it won't let me put my full weight on it yet. But I keep pushing it. They also forgot to put a grease fitting in it.
I spent the day yelling at elevator construction workers but I think I got it to where they are coming at 8:00am and I am not allowing them to leave until I ride the thing down. Then they will have to get every greasy fingerprint off my siding and every piece of saw dust off my driveway, and remove every piece of trash before I pay them. And they have to take that trash with them as it is not allowed to go into my dumpster. I made sure that was in my contract.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
YYYYyyaaaaaaaaaa My elevator is working. It was a long process but it is finally done. I had to do some of the work because I doubt these guys would ever get it running but now it is. Many "Craftsman" can't figure out things unless they have the exact part or tool. Thats like if I said, I have a piece of cheese cake, but I can't eat it because I don't have a fork, only spoons. :rolleyes:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
A little Viet Nam memory I learned about this morning.

This morning I called my old Captain from Viet Nam who is now a retired General. We stayed friends after the war but he lives in DC. He has a great memory and I barely remember why I started to write this. I remember almost nothing from my time in Nam. I have PTSD which may have something to do with that. I also have two Bronze Stars for Valor that I have no idea what I got them for. It must have been for my winning attitude or great smile. :D

I stayed on LZs or landing zones for helocopters all over the Jungle mostly on the Cambodian border. Thats the way that war was fought, from those small clearings.
Anyway I had a duck there. I have pictures of the duck but I remember little of my duck except he was the best pet I ever had.
My General friend told me that one day we were going on a raid. It was me and him in a Jeep, a Duster, which is a lightly armored, tracked anti aircraft vehicle, a few trucks and 3 Howitzers.
About 20 infantry were also with us. Bill, my Captain told the Duster driver to lead the way.

The guy says: "I am not a bomb detector so I am not leading the way" (big sissy) So Bill says "No Problem, me and Sgt. Baldassano (me) will lead the way in a Jeep." (lucky me)
It was raining so hard and it was so muddy that the rain would kick up the mud all over you so we had to wear goggles. Army Jeeps had no windshields or roofs. He told the "convoy" to keep going and not to stop no matter what.

After a while I looked back and there was no one behind us. With the roar of the monsoon rain we couldn't hear anything. The Captain called them on the radio and they took some fire so they all stopped and started firing into the trees. It was probably one NVA or Viet Cong with nothing to do.
Now we were so far ahead and it was raining so hard we couldn't find them. We also had to keep emptying our goggles of mud. Bill told them to fire one red shot straight up in the air so we could see their location. They did that and eventually we found them.

This was supposed to be a one day raid but it took five days.
We get to the village where we were supposed to be and set up the three Howitzers. The infantry set up a perimeter. There was something happening a few hundred yards away so I said (stupidly) I will go and see what it is.
He said I was gone for half an hour and he sees me coming back with this duck. I don't remember what else happened there, but I got a duck. He was my best friend for the rest of my time and he would not leave my side.
But my Captain said he got into a lot of trouble for that duck.

We were loading a Schnook Helocopter with ammo and the Colonel was there.
Me and Doc, the Medic were carrying a stretcher into the helocopter and tied to the stretcher was our dog "Ratsass", on the stretcher we had Judy the monkey and Pete the other monkey and my duck.
The Colonel was furious and yelled at Bill.
Then another time the Colonel came to visit us on an LZ and I had my duck in an enclosure made out of artillery shells with a roof for shade and a pond. He again went nuts. But Bill told him "Just leave Sgt. Baldassano alone, He will do anything or build anything I ask out of bamboo or crashed helocopters".
He also told me I made chop sticks and cups for everyone from bamboo. Another memory I lost.

My friend DukDuk

 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I looked close at my tank last night and I still have a load of those flatworms but they are darker. That usually means they are on their way out (or they got a tan) They did not hurt anything and are welcome back. I don't know what is in Flatworm Exit but I doubt it exists in the sea. Almost all "pests" will leave on their own and I have never in my life dipped a coral in anything. Maybe I am very lucky or just stupid.
confused.gif


I also don't fresh water dip my fish or ever had to de-worm anything. I am not sure why. I never remember losing a fish to worms or flukes. Maybe the naturalness of my tank somehow alleviates those concerns. I find that a natural tank with natural methods and foods, with no Alien chemicals equals success in this hobby.

I consider quarantine an Alien method that short circuits my entire method and, to me anyway, almost guarantees disaster "eventually". A tank can not be self maintaining for an extended amount of time using that method unless you continue to use un-natural methods because by short circuiting the natural life style of the fish you are dooming them to a much shorter lifespan.
All of our fish should only die from jumping out or old age. Anything else is a total failure. If a clownfish dies of something at 15 years old, that is a failure as that fish can live 30 years.

But for a fish, any fish to complete it's presumed lifespan, it needs to be a complete fish, eating it's normal complete food which means parasites and bacteria. A complete fish has a complete, working immune system that is used constantly for what it was designed for. Quarantined fish lack that ability and IMO, not a complete fish but a fish artificially being kept alive by extra ordinary means in an un natural, quizi sterilized system.


Of course there is bacteria in every system, but disease bacteria is needed along with good bacteria, viruses and parasites as they all work together to keep each of them in check.
I know I am beating a dead horse with this and that horse is beginning to stink, but just look at the disease threads on any forum. Look at all the medications used. See how many fish are dying un needlessly.

It is all due to un natural conditions that people invented through out the history of this hobby to try to fix a situation that we ourselves created.

Quarantine "causes" disease, not the other way around. Of course if you get a fish in the process of getting last rites, you need to do something, but you should not have gotten that fish in the first place.

Most threads start out with . I bought such and such a fish, it was eating well then in 4 days it developed spots. I dipped him, treated with Prizapro and watched him deteriorate for a week until it died so I blame the store.


Isn't it odd that that never happens to me. Am I that good an aquarist? No, I am not. I do have experience and common sense that came from killing many many fish.
Unfortunately these methods have been rumored into us for decades and we will never be successful in this hobby until we turn to a more natural approach which is also much cheaper and easier.
Just my pain induced, drug related opinion of course.
I am also a year older today so that makes me more senile. I am old, senile, in pain and crotchety so if you don't agree with any of this. Forget about it and plant some tomatoes.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I am all excited, soon I will go to my Doctor to get my "glue" removed. You can't get stitches removed any more because they don't use them. Only glue which they stick you together with and put a piece of tape over. The glue and tape is all scurvy and filthy looking from the last 2 weeks. I assume they will need nail polish remover to get this stuff off of me but it is itchy and ruins the beautiful shape of my leg. :rolleyes:

I asked Greta my Grand Daughter if she wants to see it. I said it is all yucky and oozing. She ran away and yelled DISCUESTING, NO.

Today I will also buy some fish food because my Dr, is right near a large LFS and I am almost out of food. Another day and my fish will have to eat linguini can clams like the rest of us.

The tank is doing great but needs a water change. When I can walk better I will collect some water and hopefully some mud.
Everything is doing what it is supposed to do and nothing jumped out in quite a while. I do need a new white worm culture as mine is just to old and stinky. It is many years old. Luckily I have some fresh clams to feed the fish.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
...
I asked Greta my Grand Daughter if she wants to see it. I said it is all yucky and oozing. She ran away and yelled DISCUESTING, NO. ...

You should have also asked your grandson. Boys tend to like yucky disgusting stuff and he might have thought seeing it would be "...neet..." (grin)
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Even though my tank uses minimal maintenance I realize It does require "some" maintenance. My powerheads were covered in growth, my algae scrubber looks like the produce section of a supermarket and the glass looks like sheet metal. My skimmer is filthy and overflowing a little. I have been trying to do these things but the knee pain with associated sick feeling from the meds is hampering my attempts.
I cleaned the powerheads but not the scrubber. I think I went over my standing up time today and I can't do it sitting down. I can't get the fish to do anything on their own as they are slobs.
My magnet/razor glass cleaner broke and I have to build a new one.
Now I am going to lay down and put my leg up like a Sissy Girly man. But I will have some Cognac for the Manly aspect.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Today I had a little not to painful morning so I did some maintenance. I re-built the skimmer venturi to make finer bubbles and I cleaned the thing. I cleaned the algae scrubber and re-built my magnet/razor glass cleaner. I made it to a store and bought some food and clams and all is well.
All seems well and I will try to collect some water in between the ice bergs soon.

My wife did something embarrassing. She got a text from one of her friends and she responded, "OK Sweetie, see you soon". With a big kiss emoji.
But instead of sending it to her friend, she sent it to a priest. :eek:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
So yesterday we went to see the Kids and Grand Kids in the East Village in Manhattan. I worked in Manhattan for 40 years and would rather have Nancy Pelosi stick me in the eye, twice with a sea urchin, then step on my busted knee with a high heel than go into Manhattan. So I have to stop before I tell you how I really feel about Manhattan. :eek:

Anyway we drive to the Jitney, depot and get on the bus. It's about 100 miles to downtown from here and busses are not built for people with new knees. You can't stretch your leg because for some reason they always put a seat in front of you.

An Hour and a half later we get to 44th st and Third Ave. And have to get a Taxi.
It's cold.
We hail a cab and it was a tiny cab with a driver who barely speaks English, but that is a requirement to be a Taxi driver in NY. If you can speak perfect English, they won't give you the job and you would have to run the French Fry cooker at Burger King.

My left knee is new and I can hardly bend it. My wife has MS and can barely bend her right leg. We are trying to get into this cab at the same time and to do this you have to put your butt in and slide all the way over to the other side to get your leg in. While I am trying to do this (carrying a cake, Christmas presents and a pie) My wife is trying to get in on the other side.

I don't know if you know what 44th st and Third Ave in Manhattan looks like but it is not like somewhere in Idaho.
WE have both doors wide open, I slide all the way in and pick up my leg with my hand to get that in. My wife has to slide in and get on my lap so she can get her foot in. (It's OK because we have been married for 45 years) Now we are both in and we have to close the doors with her cane. I have a cane that folds up so you can't pull anything with it or it falls apart. I am holding in my screams because this is very painful as my leg is practically on the drivers shoulder and my wife's leg is almost out the window.

The traffic is horrendous like it always is and it is a 20 minute ride.
WE get to our Daughters house and I have to get out to pay the guy. I slither out onto the street like a snake and my wife got out some how. Now I can't stand because new knees take a while to move. It must be some kind of aluminum problem. I get to straighten up to almost half my height and pay the guy.

Then my wife and I limp into Our Daughters house where there is a long walk to the elevator. We looked like those guys from the Civil War where one is carrying the flag, one has a flute, one has a drum and they have bloody bandanas on. :rolleyes:
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Paul when you tell us about NY I always think of this crocodile dundee line...

Richard Mason:
New York City, Mr. Dundee. Home to seven million people.

Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee:
That's incredible. Imagine seven million people all wanting to live together. Yeah, New York must be the friendliest place on earth.

CrocodileDundee_onesheet_USA_DanGoozee-5.jpg
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I have been looking over a few other forums where I wrote that I sometimes add, or used to add garden soil to my tank. I didn't invent that, it was Robert Straughn, The "Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping" and many people are aghast at that (I love that word and wonder where it came from)
Anyway as I was thinking about that I realized that for many years, long before Nancy Pelosi was born the sea has been coming in contact with garden soil. I realize this is very radical thinking but many people have never seen the sea. I personally think they should move but I digress.
The ocean normally contacts a beach which is in almost all cases just sand. It's sand because if it was soil, as many beaches were due to volcanoes, earthquakes and builders who make shopping centers near the shore, the organic material in the soil washed away leaving sand.

But all that soil including what runs off celebrities lawns including Seinfeld and Billy Joel, goes into the sea. Why is it such a foreign concept to see that soil is in the sea and always has been.
I added soil in the beginning for biodiversity. Do I know if any of that biodiversity lives in salt water or reproduces at all, No, I don't, but I still like the concept.

I know the tide pool where I collect things like mud, amphipods, messages in bottles etc. at low tide is almost all fresh water because it gets run off from a lake, but at high tide it is full salt water as the tide here rises 8'. Those amphipods, worms, crabs and I assume bacteria don't seem to mind the change and if I put my ear to the ground I can't hear them screaming when the water turns fresh. Even tiny horseshoe crabs are there by the thousands but I didn't really count them.

I think those small creatures can and do make the transformation to salt water quite easily, maybe not all of them but enough to add bio diversity to a tank. Just my thoughts of course and I could be totally wrong, especially about Mrs. Pelosi. :rolleyes:



 
Top